Hobbits loom large on heroism scale

In Return of the King, Frodo and the hobbits get more compelling screen time, grappling physically with the ferocious spider Shelob and mentally with Gollum.
Picture: Supplied

The title may refer to Viggo Mortensen's tall and regal character Aragorn, but The Return of the King, the final instalment in the epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy, proves even tiny hobbits can be big heroes.

Frodo (Elijah Wood), the series' often fragile ring-bearer, and his stalwart companion Sam (Sean Astin), were sometimes overshadowed in The Two Towers by the sheer enormity of the battle at Helms Deep. But in Return of the King they get more compelling screen time, grappling physically with the huge, ferocious spider Shelob and mentally with the treachery of the conflicted Gollum.

Making the three Rings movies "was a real defining moment in all of our lives", Wood says. "We had to rely on each other to get through the journey, and I think the relationships that were forged with all the actors, and the closeness that was felt, really defined us. I certainly learnt about my own capabilities."

There are gazes on-screen between Wood and Astin as Frodo and Sam that seem to wordlessly express every nuance in the hobbits' adventures.

"That's part of their heroism as characters," says Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote the screenplay adaptations of the J.R.R. Tolkien saga with director Peter Jackson and his longtime film partner and spouse, Fran Walsh.

"I think that's a lovely bond, and it's lovely to be able to do that between two male characters without any other kind of political implication or sexual implication. It's just the truth of the friendship, a genuine friendship. It's quite clean and pure."

Astin says his on and off-screen relationship with Wood was forged the moment they met, some four years ago, before filming of the series began. They had arrived separately at a Los Angeles hotel to be fitted for wigs.

"We had that same level of emotional honesty with each other (that movie-goers see between Frodo and Sam)," Astin says.

"We knew what we were about to embark on. We walked up to each other. We hugged each other. I said, 'Are you ready for this?' He said, 'Yeah. Are you?' I said, 'I think so'."

Astin is far less inclined to embrace a debate among Rings fans that has raged for decades. Many see Sam as the ultimate hero of the saga.

"That's actually the discussion going back 50 years," says Jonathan Watson of Monrovia, California. He operates the Tolkien fan site Tolkienonline.com, which has more than 30,000 dues-paying members.

"Sam is actually the hero of the book because he's the one who pushes on; he's the face at the end," Watson says.

Astin is more political and seems inclined to discuss his work only in the context of the contributions of the entire cast. He'll talk about how Jackson pushed all the actors, including those playing various hobbits, in different directions. He'll sing the praises of Dominic Monaghan, whose portrayal of another hobbit, Merry, Astin says, "is a sweeter, more faithful interpretation of a hobbit than mine is with Sam".

But he says, "I want to believe that I can be that strong and heroic character that you want to see in movies, so I was willing to accept the challenge of being three feet tall and having big feet, the ears and long hair."

But it's also clear that up on the big screen, Sam and the three other main hobbits are revered icons of courage and hope.

Merry and Pippin (Billy Boyd) don armour and fight in battles where they are by far the smallest creatures on the field. Frodo consistently bears the emotionally taxing burden of carrying the all-powerful ring.

And Sam's face is indeed the lingering image from a theatrical saga that spans three films and more than nine hours.

If Tolkien admired his tiny creatures, Jackson adores them. "I love the hobbits," the director says. "They are my favourite characters. And, more or less, I consider myself more a hobbit than a human being or an elf.

"Growing up in New Zealand and being in New Zealand," he says. "You do feel as though when you go into the outside world, you're going to a slightly scary place. And then you come back home and it's peaceful and simpler."